DS-1 vs DS-2

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Quick review: The DS-1 and DS-2 are two distortion stompboxes from BOSS. You can adjust the Tone, Level (volume), and Gain. On the DS-2 there is a selector (which is actually footswitchable too) for either Normal or Turbo mode. The DS-2 is a DS-1 with an extra gain circuit which engages when the extra selector is in Turbo mode.

My question for you: Does Frusciante ever use the Turbo mode on his DS-2 or does he just use it as a DS-1 most of the time? Where can I hear the difference in RHCP songs?

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John use ONLY the turbo mode on the DS-2! You can hear it on many songs like Dani California, Mellowship Slinky In B Major, Suck My Kiss, Stone Cold Bush, etc.

On the Californication tour he use the DS-1 together with his White Falcon in Otherside, you can hear the difference really good and he said in a interview that he used it in the recording to Californication most of the time. It's a bit crumbly, not so smooth like the Mode 1 on the DS-2. The Turbo Mode is the smoothest thing in the world with a great mid boost! Love it :)/>

Mode 1 of the DS-2 is NOT the same like the DS-1! Don't forget that. There are some differences, you can hear it very good when you listen to Nirvana live performances from 1991 and 1992. In 1992 he switch to the DS-2 in Mode 1, in 1993 Kurt add the Tech 21 Sans Amp Classic to his effect chain and use it as main distortion. Look out! ;)/>

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Mode 1 on the DS-1 is in fact the exact circuit used in the DS-1. Any difference you hear in sound is just the settings there. Good to know I'll just be using the turbo setting though. Thanks, Chili_Pat!

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Hm... I wonder if the pots are different or if the bypass for the turbo gain circuit isn't very good. I haven't had a chance to compare them side-by-side, I'm just going off the diagrams. (Ya know, what it's "supposed" to be as opposed to what it is.)

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/>Hm... I wonder if the pots are different or if the bypass for the turbo gain circuit isn't very good. I haven't had a chance to compare them side-by-side, I'm just going off the diagrams. (Ya know, what it's "supposed" to be as opposed to what it is.)

The two pedals are in the front of my feet ;)/> I "feel" a difference, but if the diagrams say it's the same circuit, I believe that!

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Tone at 11, Distortion at 12 on mode II, adjust the level so that the volume stays the same when you engage the pedal, volume maxed on the guitar so that you can back off to reduce the distortion. The pedal responds very well to change in volume from the guitar.

Just crank it to mode I and turn the volume down to about 4-5 on the guitar to add a little distortion-y warmth to the tone for stuff like Under the Bridge.

I've got it going into a clean Blackstar HT-5, which I'll usually keep at about half-max volume for regular, 2-3 o'clock for that edge-of-breakup sorta harsher sound that Frusciante tends to use a lot. Dunno what amp you're on, but I'd keep it somewhere near the breakup point on your clean volume (just a bit below like I have) to get good distortion. Obviously if you're playing on a solid-state amp you're OK anywhere.

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I guess when it comes to the BOSS DS-1 / DS-2 Distortion, we first have to separate between the the labels and therefore the micro chip which is integrated in this pedal.

John uses the pedals which where black labeled and issued around 1980-1985. Those pedals work with a totally different micro chip and do not even come close to those who are around today. Usually when you get one new OOTB, they should be made in Taiwan. The eighties models where produced in Japan. Unless anybody will claim anything else, so again:

These are the only ones who sound the way they should sound and there is a totally difference between those pedals!

That's just for the note.

/>Hey,

John use ONLY the turbo mode on the DS-2! You can hear it on many songs like Dani California, Mellowship Slinky In B Major, Suck My Kiss, Stone Cold Bush, etc.

correctement! the DS-2 is always set to TURBO! He only uses this for some sick fat distortion tone as DC. I also doubt that he uses it for Mellowship as this is a mid eighties DS-1, I swear!

The Chorus of 'She's Only 18' is also treated by the DS-2. No fuzzy tone, only bottom bass distortion tone.

On the Californication tour he use the DS-1 together with his White Falcon in Otherside, you can hear the difference really good and he said in a interview that he used it in the recording to Californication most of the time. It's a bit crumbly, not so smooth like the Mode 1 on the DS-2. The Turbo Mode is the smoothest thing in the world with a great mid boost! Love it :)/>

Mode 1 of the DS-2 is NOT the same like the DS-1! Don't forget that. There are some differences, you can hear it very good when you listen to Nirvana live performances from 1991 and 1992. In 1992 he switch to the DS-2 in Mode 1, in 1993 Kurt add the Tech 21 Sans Amp Classic to his effect chain and use it as main distortion. Look out! ;)/>

True! Even if they are different circuits, it does not mean it sounds the same.

/>Mode 1 on the DS-1 is in fact the exact circuit used in the DS-1. Any difference you hear in sound is just the settings there. Good to know I'll just be using the turbo setting though. Thanks, Chili_Pat!

I doubt both of the pedals have the same circuit. Are you shure about the eighties models? Do you have any source for that?

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I have a MIJ DS-2 if that makes much difference in recommending good settings. Can anyone suggest how to adjust the knobs according to amp volume? At practices I can play loud, but at home I play through a quiet gretsch electromatic.

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/>I have a MIJ DS-2 if that makes much difference in recommending good settings. Can anyone suggest how to adjust the knobs according to amp volume? At practices I can play loud, but at home I play through a quiet gretsch electromatic.

Fist of all you have to tell what gear you are using. Guitar / PUs/ PU Switch / Head / Cabinet.

Don't think you can buy a made in JP DS-1/-2 and get the same sound out of it as John because there are slightly some more things that affect the sound.

One thing I would highly recommend o you is getting an attenuator like the THD Hotplate or WEBER Mass. These boxes allow you to pull down the overall volume of your your amp while the preamp gain and master volume gain is set to max so you will get the rich sound of full valve satiation. Those attenuators aren't cheap, but they do a really good job.

I have an early 90's Marshall JCM 900 Dual Reverb which can be switched betwenn 50/25W. Even The 25W are insane for my living room and the attenuators give you the powersoak you need for it.

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Circuit's the same, japanese model just uses different components. (e.g. capacitors rated at the same capacitance, but perhaps a different brand, maybe slightly higher tolerance, but no big difference in quality.)

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Basically everyone wouldn't pass a blind sound test. Perhaps several people on this forum would. And several people on a site for John Frusciante fanatics on a forum for gear snobs is an almost imperceptible difference in sound.